42 Africans drown off the coast of Yemen

According to the website of the Yemeni Defense Ministry, at least 42 illegal migrants from Africa have drowned after their boat overturned in the Arabian Sea. The accident happened off the Beer Ali coast, Shabwa province south part, late on March 9th. The officials' website reports for 30 other migrant rescued by a naval patrol. They are taken to a refugee camp in Mayfaa town.

The migrant from Africa, especially those from Somalia and Ethiopia, see Yemen as a gateway to the Middle East and the West. The International Organisation for Migration reported 84,000 migrants from the countries of the Horn of Africa in Yemen for 2012. They often use not seaworthy vessels to reach southern Yemen crossing the Sinai Peninsula and the Gulf of Aden. That has led to many sea accidents. Figures from the International Organisation for Migration are estimating the victims to be in the range from 2 to 5 thousand people. The perished ones for 2013 are over 7,000 people.